Shelter In Place

Sheltering-in-Place is a protective action taken inside a building to protect the building occupants from external hazards, minimizing the chance of injury and/or providing the time necessary to allow for a safe evacuation. Circumstances that may warrant a shelter-in-place activity could include:

Severe weather

Biological incident

Active Shooter

Civil unrest such as riot

Radiological incident

Accidental chemical exposure

Practice general safety precautions at all times. If you observe any suspicious activity on campus, immediately contact University Police at 9-1-1 or (909) 869-3070 if you are using a cellular telephone.

The notice to Shelter-In-Place will be issued by emergency personnel from University Police or the Emergency Operations Center and can be received in many ways. Building emergency personnel may receive notice to Shelter-In-Place or notice may be sent using our campus wide Safety Alert.

In the event of an active shooter,

If you can leave the area safely, do so

Quietly notify anyone you encounter as you are leaving that they must exit immediately as well

Do not signal the building occupants by activating a fire alarm

Take shelter in another university building if possible

Contact University Police to advise them of what is happening

If you cannot leave the area,

Close and lock the door

Move furniture to barricade the door if possible

Turn off the lights. Block any windows that provide a view of the room to the outside

Stay away from the windows and doors if at all possible

Seek protective cover of some kind under or behind furniture

Remain quiet and take a moment to switch all cell phones in the room to vibrate mode so that they will not alert anyone to your presence

Do not open the door or leave the room until directed to do so by emergency personnel

Remain calm and develop a plan to escape should it become necessary

If police enter the room, follow their instructions

For severe weather and civil unrest that pose a physical threat,

Stay inside and move away from windows to the inner corridors

Be sure to close all doors connecting exterior offices to the corridor

For extreme weather, relocate to interior lower levels in the building

For external chemical, biological or radiological incident,

Stay inside and move to an inner corridor or office, closing doors behind you

Close windows and turn off air conditioners and fans

Move to higher levels of the building if possible to reduce the transfer of contaminated air from outside to

inside

Move higher in the building since many chemical agents are heavier than air and tend to hug the ground